Taco Bell rang up a win Tuesday in its quest to make “Taco Tuesday” free of trademark restrictions, with Taco John’s formally abandoning its decades-old claim to own the phrase amid a challenge from its bigger rival.
In a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Cheyenne-based Taco John’s gave up any further claim to “Taco Tuesday” in 49 states, ending a high-profile spat with Taco Bell.
But the dispute looks to keep simmering on the Jersey Shore, where Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar in Somers Point promised to keep fighting Taco Bell over the exclusive right to hold “Taco Tuesday” promotions in New Jersey.
We’re hanging in there. We’re sticking by our guns,” Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar attorney Stephen Altamuro said.
While “Taco Tuesday” has become a well-known phrase often used at restaurants and elsewhere, Taco John’s has worked hard to defend its more than 40-year-old trademark of the term in the 49 states besides New Jersey. The fast food chain sent many cease-and-desist orders over the years to anyone besides Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar daring to have a “Taco Tuesday” promotion.
In 2019, the company went so far as to send a letter to a small brewery just five blocks from its corporate headquarters, warning it to stop using “Taco Tuesday” to promote a taco truck parked outside on Tuesdays.
Even NBA star LeBron James got in on the action that year, filing unsuccessfully for his own “Taco Tuesday” trademark.
The disputes culminated with Taco Bell filing with U.S. trademark regulators this May to get Taco John’s and Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar abandon their trademarks, saying the term had become too widely used to belong to any one person or business.
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